Chatecke » went to the Hurricanes dressing room in the

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry, I was timekeeping a AAA minor midget game last week when the following happened. A player was skating down the wing and then wound up to take a huge slap shot. When he took the shot, the puck actually split into two pieces with both halves of the puck entering the net for a score. Should the goal be allowed or not? Has anything weird like that ever happened to you in the pros during your career? One ref at the game actually thought a goal should be allowed but after all three officials got together, there was a ruling of no goal with the faceoff inside the zone. Thought maybe a weird situation would put a bit of a change of pace to your column. Cheers,Edward Sherr Edward: As weird as it sounds, I do recall a hard shot ring off the goal post in an NHL game I worked that caused the puck to break in half. Neither chunk of vulcanized rubber entered the net but instead split off in different directions. One piece travelled toward the end zone corner while the other portion found its way into the slot. Players scrambled in both directions, instinctively chasing the black disc that was nearest their position. I recall the look of shock on each players face after recognizing only half a puck existed in two different locations on the ice. I blew my whistle to halted play for this unusual situation. A discussion then ensued as to who caused the stoppage of play with regard to the resulting face-off location. The defending team protested that the attacking team had caused the stoppage with a shot that broke the puck. They rationalized their position no differently than shooting or deflecting the puck over the boards. I settled on the claim that it wasnt "who" (which team) but "what" (a faulty puck) that caused the stoppage and the resulting face-off was taken in the end zone corner where half the puck had come to rest. The fact is, Edward, that the entire puck must completely cross the goal line to count as a legal goal. Half a puck just doesnt cut it. The officials in the AAA Midget game, therefore, made the correct call; including the resulting end zone face-off location. Amendment/Addition: You have correctly noted from Edwards question that both halves of the broken puck entered the net. While there is nothing presently in the NHL Officiating Case book or anything that I could find in the Canadian Hockey Case Book or playing rules on the subject, we need to look at rule 13 - Puck. The puck shall be made of vulcanized rubber, or other approved material, one inch (1") thick and three inches (3") in diameter and shall weigh between five and one-half ounces (5 1/2 oz.) and six ounces (6 oz.). All pucks used in competition must be approved by the League. A puck that has broken in half does not conform to this rule in specified size or weight, nor is it approved for legal play. No goal would result should a puck that was broken in half and therefore deemed unfit for play (illegal) enter the net. This would include the case where separated halves found their way into the net. During the season, I had the puck split in half. Inglasco (the official puck supplier to the NHL) was having some quality control issues. You might recall that routine shots were causing the protective glass behind the goal to break at an unprecedented rate. I was told that there was a component in the puck that was causing this to occur. While that problem was quickly rectified, it brought special attention to the puck and particularly the inconsistency with which it settled or bounced on the ice. A study, conducted by an NHL-hired consultant with a PHD specializing in the field of rubber, revealed the ideal temperature at which frozen vulcanized rubber provided the optimum density to slide across the ice and minimize the bounce effect. Following the study, game puck supplies were to be kept in a special temperature controlled freezer that were installed in every NHL arena. Pucks that previously were kept cool in a bucket of ice at the penalty timekeeper bench were secured in a mini-freezer by an off-ice crew member that was in charge of pucks. Memos were sent to the head of each Off-Ice Crew on the new puck handling policy and optimum temperature that must be maintained. Linesmen were instructed to change out the pucks on a frequent basis. I will tell you first hand that the density of the frozen puck was noticeable when on occasion I was struck by one. Even a glancing blow provided an extra sting not previously experienced! With all this hoopla of information being circulated over the ideal puck temperature, Jeff Weintraub, head of the NY Islanders Off-Ice Crew (and a dear friend of all the NHL Officials) decided to have a little fun with us. Prior to a game I worked in Nassau Coliseum, Jeff entered our dressing room with a very serious look on his face and asked me if I would check the temperature of the game puck. Confused, I asked how the heck he expected me to do that. From behind Jeffs back he exposed a NY Islander puck with a hole drilled in it. Inserted in the hole was a "rectal thermometer!" What a ball-buster Jeff was. The bouncing puck also led to snow buildup being scrapped from the goal crease and around the dasher boards during commercial time-outs. Very quickly through the scraping process guys in sweat suits were replaced by scantily clad "Ice Girls." Its truly amazing the progress I witnessed during my 30 years as an NHL referee. 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The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver. Fake Balenciaga Shoes . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer.RALEIGH, N.C. -- After squandering a third-period lead in a season-opening loss to Detroit, the Carolina Hurricanes were happy to be in a similar position against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. This time, they got the result they wanted. Radek Dvorak scored the winner in the second period to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over the Flyers. Jay Harrison also scored, Jeff Skinner added two assists and Anton Khudobin made 17 saves in his Hurricanes debut. "It definitely had the very same feel as the last game," Carolinas Jordan Staal said. "It was nice to get a different result with the tough ending to last time. It was nice to have a solid third period and do all the right things to get the win." Luke Schenn had the goal for the Flyers, who have opened the season 0-3-0 for the second year in a row. Before last year, Philadelphia had lost its first three games only one other time in franchise history. Steve Mason made 32 saves for the Flyers. Philadelphia has scored only three goals in its three losses. "I dont know if anythings missing -- were just having a tough time scoring goals," Schenn said. "No ones got that confidence or that swagger right now to score some goals. When you put the puck in the net, it makes everyone feel good around you. For whatever reason, weve had a hard time doing that." The Hurricanes dominated large stretches of the opening period, taking advantage of a Philadelphia team that lost 4-1 at Montreal on Saturday night before travelling to Raleigh. For the period, Carolina outshot the Flyers 17-5. Harrison opened the scoring with one of the Hurricanes more benign opportunities, sneaking the puck through Masons legs on a wrist shot from inside the blue line. Philadelphia got that goal back 3:01 into the second period when Schenn skated around Carolinas Drayson Bowman and snapped tthe puck above Khudobins left shoulder.dddddddddddd. It was the Flyers first even-strength goal of the season. "I would think that the guys are probably pretty frustrated," Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. "Theres not a lot of room out there. The first game, we had a lot of attempts; the second game, not a lot of attempts. Were in there, were looking, but were not coming up with anything." Dvorak gave the Hurricanes the lead for good when he scored a little more than 5 minutes later. After Skinner deflected Schenns clearing attempt, Dvorak collected the loose puck in the high slot. With Carolinas Riley Nash providing a screen, Dvoraks wrist shot beat Mason on the glove side. "When the forechecks going well, everything falls into place," Skinner said. "I think the forecheck was going well." Dvorak, who signed a free agent contract with the Hurricanes on Oct. 2 after coming to training camp on a tryout basis, also scored in the Hurricanes season-opening loss to Detroit on Friday. The 18-year veteran had four goals in nine games for Anaheim last season. "Given the opportunity, he can score," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "Hes got great skill. Hes obviously been a great addition over the first two games that weve added to our group of young forwards." The final period was a tight-checking affair with neither team having many opportunities -- Philadelphia managed only three shots. NOTES: Elias Lindholm, Carolinas first-round draft pick, went to the Hurricanes dressing room in the third period with an apparent injury to his right arm. He did not return to the game, although he was on the bench at the end of the game. ... Philadelphias Vincent Lecavalier came into the game having recorded 27 points in his last 27 games against the Hurricanes. . Mason had been undefeated in five career outings against Carolina. ' ' '